Apparatus for annealing glassware



Dec. 5, 1933. w MORTON ET AL 1,938,346

APPARATUS FOR ANNEALING GLASSWARE Filed Aug. 1, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet l Ill l/I/I/l II I lI/l/l ll//l// INVENTORS Dec. 5, 1933. w. A. MORTON ET AL 1,933,346

APPARATUS FOR ANNEALING GLASSWARE Filed Aug. 1, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 5, 1933. WAMORTON ET AL v 1,938,346

APPARATUS FOR ANNEALING GLASSWARE Filed Aug 1, 1928 3 Shee ts-Sheet s INVENTORS Patented Dec. 5, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR ANNEALING GLASSWARE Pennsylvania Application August 1, 1928. Serial No. 296,668

11 Claims.

This invention relates to an apparatus for annealing glassware and the like, and particularly to an annealing leer in which the glassware is passed through an elongated tunnel by means of a conveyor, the temperature of the tunnel through which the ware is passed being regulated to produce proper annealing.

Among the objects of the present invention are, to provide new and improved means by which the temperature of the tunnel may be accurately controlled; means for drawing air from the entrance end of the tunnel and introducing it into the combustion or fire-box of the leer; to provide a new and improved heat medium conveying duct or flue; and to provide a new and improved combustion or fire-box construction in combination with the heat medium conveying flue.

Further objects are, to provide new and improved conveyor supporting means; new and improved conveyor driving means; and means disposed within the tunnel and associated with the conveyor and conveyor supporting means for preventing ware or broken pieces from being discharged from the conveyor into the tunnel.

Other additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be hereinafter specifically referred to or will be apparent from a consideration of the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, which illustrate an application of my invention:

, Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a portion of a leer embodying my invention, showing some parts in elevation;

Figs. 2 and 3,views similar to Fig. 1, showing portions of the leer and operative parts to the rear of what is shown by Fig. 1;

Fig. 4, a longitudinal sectional view of a portion of the leer, showing a modified form of sup- 40 porting conveyor for a portion of its length within the tunnel;

Fig. 5, a detail view of a portion of the conveyor driving drum and an adjustable roll associated therewith;

Fig. 6, a detail perspective view of a portion of the conveyor supporting means of the form shown at the rear of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7, a vertical sectional view taken on line VIII-VII of Fig. 1;

, Fig. 8, a detail enlarged perspective view, showing a portion of one form of conveyor supporting means; and

Fig. 9, a sectional view taken on line IX-IX of Fig. 8.

The present invention embodies certain features disclosed in our pending application Serial No. 182,548, filed April 11, 1927 and, as illustrated, comprises a tunnel, generally designated by the numeral 5, a combustion chamber or fire-box 6, a heat medium conveying duct or flue 7, in communication at one end with the fire-box and at its other end with suction means, as a fan 8; an endless belt ware conveyor of the woven wire fabric type having both strands thereof within the tunnel, conveyor supporting means 9 in the form of Fig. 1, and conveyor supporting means 911. and 10 in the form of Fig. 4, mechanism for driving the conveyor, indicated generally by 11, and an exhaust conduit 12 connecting the flue 7 with the exhaust fan; said leer 7 being provided with wheels or rollers 13 for movably supporting it.

As shown, the forward end of the fire-box 6 projects forwardly of the front end wall of the tunnel; and the ware-receiving end of the con- 7 veyor, as shown at 14, is also extended beyond the said front wall. The roof of the fire-box is preferably formed of refractory blocks or tiles 15, for example, carborundum tiles, and is provided with a fluid entrance port 16 controlled by 80 a damper 17, the latter being operable by a rod 18. 19 designates a door located at the were receiving end of the tunnel. It will be noted that the tiles 15 are located in substantially the same horizontal plane as the heat medium conducting flue 7, and that an end of said flue or a top plate-like member 20 thereof engages a metallic header 21 interposed between the top wall of the fire-box and the end of the flue.

By means of the fire-box construction described, it will be seen that by opening the damper 17, heated air from the tunnel may be drawn into the fire-box and this heated air utilized for supporting combustion within the fire-box at a considerable saving over the old methods of introducing cold air for combustion.

Another important feature of this construction is, that by drawing the heated air into the flrebox as described, Working conditions for opera.- tors employed for transferring ware from the forming machine to the conveyor are greatly improved, due to the fact that the hot tunnel air is diverted to the combustion chamber.

A characteristic and important feature of the present invention is the construction of the heat conveying flue 'l; as shown, we utilize the upper surface of the bottom or floor 22 of the tunnel as one wall of the flue, and provide a series of slightly overlapping sheet metal members 23 for the top wall of the said flue. Members 23 have their respective side edges provided with depending flanges 24 designed to be entered in sand or other suitable sealing material 25 disposed in spaced-apart channel members 26, the latter extending longitudinally of the tunnel and disposed adjacent the side walls 27 thereof and the bottom 22. As preferred, theforward plate 20 of the series of sheet members 23 is connected to the metallic header 21, and is loosely joined in overlapped relationship to the second plate or sheet member of the series. The second member 23 overlaps the following member 23, and each succeeding member is similarly arranged relatively to its adjacent member, throughout the length of the flue. By means of the above construction, we have provided an expansible flue, properly sealed to prevent the accidental escape of fluids therefrom.

Flue '7 is connected with the exhaust fan 8 by means of a vertically extending pipe 30 and a series of telescoping horizontally disposed and longitudinally extending pipe sections 31 constituting the exhaust flue 12 or waste heat conduit. Conduit 12 is disposed under the floor of the tunnel and, centrally. thereof and at desired intervals, is provided with branch take-off pipes or connections 32 leading from said conduit to flue '7. Said take-offs are provided with dampers 33 to control the discharge of the heating medium from flue '1 into the waste heat conduit. We are thus enabled to vary the length of travel of the heating medium through flue '7 or to withdraw at will a portion of the heating medium from flue '7, thereby providing simple and efiicient means for controlling the temperature within the tunnel.

It will be noted that we have both strands of the endless ware conveyor arranged for travel within the tunnel; i. e., the ware conveying strand 34 and the return strand 35. The supporting means for the woven wire fabric conveyor include a series of transversely disposed I-beams 36, having their ends supported in the side walls of the leer, together with associated parts and members for supporting each of the strands. For the ware supporting strand 34, the supporting structure comprises spaced-apart longitudinally extending members 37 in the form of channels, spacers 38 secured to the I-beams, and a series of idler rollers 39 with their mountings, all disposed within the tunnel and spaced away from the interior surfaces of the side walls of the leer or the tunnel.

The preferred form of rollers employed andv the preferred mountings or bearings therefor are particularly shown by the detail views, Figs. 8 and 9. As there shown, each roller 39 has a centrally disposed shaft 40 extending through the hollow roller, and is provided with apertured end closures 41. The ends of the shaft 40 carry wear sleeves 42 adapted to be entered in a pivotally mounted bearing member 42a having a shank potion 43. Bearing members 42a are mounted on angular brackets 44 secured to the inner faces of the supporting channel members 3'7 by rivets 44a or otherwise. 45 designates a cotter-pin for maintaining the bearing on its supportng bracket. This manner of mounting the rollers 39 is important in that it provides for free play of the rollers, and permits of a movement of the bear-.

oil" from the conveyor and clogging or interferring with the continuous movement of the conveyor. These means, as shown, comprise plate or sheet members45a welded or otherwise suitably secured to the outer faces of channel members 37. This construction forms, in effect, an open-top trough through which the ware bearing strand of the conveyor is passed.

Located at therear end of the tunnel, or adjacent thereto, is a framework indicated generally by the numeral 46. This framework is designed to carry the conveyor driving mechanism 11 including, as illustrated, an electric motor 47, reduction gearing comprising a large gear wheel 48 and a small gear 49; a drive belt 50 from the motor to pulley 49a on the shaft of the small wheel 49; a drive chain 51 leading from sprocket 52 of the reduction gearing to a sprocket 53 mounted on an end of a shaft 54. Shaft 54 has its bearings in the framework 46, and carries a driving drum or driving roller 55. a

As particularly shown by Fig. 3, the delivery end of the conveyor extends over a pulley or roller 56 mounted on a shaft journalled in the frame 46, and then the return strand of the conveyor is passed forwardly in the direction of drum 55 over a roller 5'7 positioned relatively to the drum to pass the conveyor around the driving drum, with its ware bearing or supporting surface out of driving contact with the drum.

Located adjacent the point where the conveyor leaves the drive drum or drive roller, we provide an adjustable pinch idler roller 58 having its shaft 59 mounted in bearings 60, the latter being carried by the frame, see Fig. 5. Both the drum and the roller 58 are preferably provided with a yielding or resilient covering of rubber or other suitable material to afford the desired contact with the conveyor, the covering for the drum being shown at a and that for the roller 58 at b. The conveyor passes between the drum and the said roller, and the roller may be adjusted to the desired gripping contact with the conveyor by screws 61.

In the form of Fig. 4, the conveyor supporting means employed at the front end of the tunnel and extending back into the tunnel, designated 9a, is of substantially the same construction as the conveyor supporting means 9 of the form of Fig. l, but the remaining portion 10 is of a different construction. In this latter construction, we omit the rollers and provide a series of longitudinally extending bars or members 62 mounted on transverse I-beams 63 having their ends mounted in the side walls of the leer. Members 62, at their forward ends, are connected with a transversely disposed operating shaft 64 through members 65 loosely mounted thereon; spaced apart cotter pins 64a serve to space the -members 65 on shaft 64. Shaft 64 is threaded for a portion of its length, as shown at 66, and the threaded portion is designed to cooperate with an internally threaded sleeve 67 through which the shaft projects. 68 designates an operating hand crank for turning the shaft. The purpose of mounting the ends of members 62 in the manner just described is tov effect a slightly tit) transverse shifting of these members for the purpose of preventing wear on the under surface or face of the woven wire conveyor as it travels over the said supporting members. Upon turning shaft 64 and shifting the members 65 and their bars 62, the weight of the wear bearing strand 34 of the conveyor will straighten said bars throughout the length of the leer.

As illustrated, the entire leer structure is mounted on the wheels or rollers 13, thereby enabling the structure to be moved from point to point as desired. These roller supporting means include a swivel caster-like construction 69 having a threaded stem '70 entered in a depending housing 71, the latter having a threaded socket portion for cooperation with the threaded stem 70. This construction provides for a vertical adjustment of the leer structure or portions of the same relatively to the floor level.

We claim:

1. In a leer for annealing glassware, the combination with a tunnel and a fire-box, of a valvecontrolled opening in the fire-box for admitting air from the tunnel to the fire-box.

2. In a leer for annealing glassware, the combination with a tunnel and a fire-box, of a valve controlled opening in the fire-box, and means for drawing heated air from the tunnel through said opening into the fire-box.

3. In a leer for annealing glassware, an annealing tunnel, a fire-box, a heating flue associated with the turmel and communicating with the fire-box, an exhauster in communication with the heating flue, and a valve-controlled opening in the fire-box whereby air may be drawn from the tunnel into the fire-box.

i. In a leer for annealing glassware, an annealing tunnel, a ware conveyor operable within the tunnel, means for supporting the conveyor including spaced-apart longitudinally extending members upon which the edges of the conveyor slide and a plurality of pivotally mounted elongated rollers supported from said members, said members and rollers disposed entirely within the tunnel and afiording substantially transversely continuous lines of support.

5. In a leer for annealing glassware, an annealing tunnel, a ware conveyor having both runs operable within the tunnel, a plurality of elongated rollers for supporting the conveyor, and pivotally mounted bearings for the rollers, said bearings and rollers disposed entirely within the tunnel.

6. In a leer for annealing glassware, an annealing tunnel, an endless belt ware conveyor operable within the tunnel and having both strands thereof within the tunnel, a plurality of rollers for supporting the ware bearing strand, and bearings for said rollers, said rollers and bearings disposed entirely within the tunnel.

7. In a leer for annealing glassware, an annealing tunnel, a ware conveyor of woven wire fabric having both runs operable within the tunnel, a plurality of elongated rollers for partially supporting the conveyor, bearings for said rollers, and means spaced from the sides of the tunnel for continuously supporting the edges of the conveyor, said rollers, bearings and means all disposed within the tunnel, and said means and rollers afiording relatively close and substantially transversely continuous lines of support.

8. In a leer for annealing glassware, an annealing tunnel, a ware conveyor operable within the tunnel, means for supporting the ware conveyor within the tunnel including spaced-apart longitudinally extending members spaced from the sides of the tunnelfor supporting the edges of the ware conveyor, a series of rollers having bearings carried on said longitudinally extending members, and means carried by and extending above the upper surface of said longitudinally extending members for preventing the ware being discharged over the edges of said conveyor.

9. In a leer for annealing glassware, an annealing tunnel, a belt ware conveyor operable in the tunnel, longitudinally extending conveyor supporting members disposed within the tunnel and spaced from the floor thereof, and means for transversely shifting the said supporting memloers to vary the bearing contact of the belt conveyor thereon.

10. In a leer for annealing glassware, an annealing tunnel, a ware conveyor operable in the tunnel, supporting members within the tunnel and spaced from the floor thereof co-acting with said conveyor, and means operable to shift said supporting members transversely of the ware conveyor to vary the bearing contact of the conveyor thereon.

11. In a leer for annealing glassware, a were conveyor operable therein, independently expansible longitudinally extending members for supporting the edges of said conveyor, transverse rollers extending between said longitudinal members, and bearings carried by and movable with said members to support said rollers.

WILLIAM A. MORTON.

PAUL L. GEER. 

